Telephone



Dec. 31, 1940. A. G. ZIMMERMAN TELEPHONE Filed Mafch 51, 1957 Snnentor Hrthuj' G. Zimmerman Patented Dec. 31, 1940 v UNITED STATES TELEPHONE Arthur G. Zimmerman, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application March 31, 1937, Serial No. 133,932

1 Claim.

This invention relates to telephonic apparatus, and more particularly to that form of such apparatus known as the "battery1ess or electromagnetic type of telephone, the present application 5 being a division of my co-pending application Serial No. 704,807, filed December 30, 1933, now Patent No. 2,119,124, granted May 31, 1938.

It is well known that under certain conditions of use, telephone units are subjected to severe mechanical abuses. Such conditions, for example, arise in marine service during severe conditions of weather, or on a battleship in action.

The primary object of my present invention is to provide a portable telephone of the type described which will operate efficiently under such conditions as those set forth above.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved handset telephone as aforesaid which can readily be accommodated to heads of varions sizes, whereby the telephone may operate efflciently even when located, for example, immediately adjacent to a short-barrelled naval rifle in an open barbette mount.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved telephone as aforesaid whichis as nearly water-tight as is consistent with adequate acoustic properties.

Still another object of my invention is to provide an improved telephone hand-set which is free from acoustic regeneration.

A further and very important object of my present invention is to provide a telephone of the type described which will not injure the user if the telephone should be violently thrown into contact with him.

In accordance with my present invention, 1 form the hand-set of a resilient material and incorporate with the transmitter and receiver units thereof, respectively, a flexible and resilient mouthpiece and earpiece, the latter two pieces being connected to the hand-set supporting unit in a manner to provide a water-tight device. By making the supporting member resilient, it may be easily bent for accommodation to heads of different sizes depending upon the distance from.

the user's ear to his mouth. Also, by making the mouthpiece and the earpiece of resilient material,

they will give readily when the telephone is violently forced against the user's face, whereby injury to the user is avoided.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the' appended claim. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and method of operation aswell as additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of one embodiment thereof when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of my im- 5 proved telephone hand-set, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the mouthpiece thereof.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, wherein similar reference characters designate 10 corresponding parts throughout, there is shown a handle or body member I to which a waterproof cable 2 is secured by means of a waterproof coupling 3. The handle I serves as a supporting member for a receiver unit 4 and a 15 transmitter unit 5 and is preferably made of a rubber compound known commercially as semihard" rubber, which is flexible and resilient but at the same time has such rigidity as to hold the several parts of the telephone in proper op- 20 erative" relation at all times. The low natural period of vibration of the member I, that is, of the order of one-half second, prevents any acoustic regeneration through the handle 1 between the receiver 4 and the transmitter 5. 25

The transmitter and receiver units may be identical in interior construction, and for this reason only one of them will be described. In Fig. 2, the transmitter unit 5 is shown in detail and comprises a casing 6 and a face member or 30 cap I which fit into a correspondingly shaped recess in the member I in which they are resiliently held by the elasticity of the semi-hard rubber. The transmitter unit is provided with a mouthpiece 8 and the receiver unit is provided 5 with an earpiece 9, each secured to their respective cap members I by a plurality of screws l0 fitting through the respective caps into metal backing plates II to which the respective members 8 and 9 are vulcanized. The mouthpiece 8 40 may also be made of semi-hard rubber, preferably of thinner material than the body or supporting member I so that it is more flexible than the latter, while the member 9 is preferably made of soft, sponge rubber. The members 8 and 9 ,45 are provided with suitable openings to afford the necessary acoustic passages to their respectively associated units and, when connected to their respective translating units as described above, provide water-tight units. At the same time, it 50 will be obvious that the user of the device is fully protected from injury in case of a sudden blow or jar in view of the character of the materials of which these members are made.

Either the transmitter 5 or both the transmit- 65 ter and the receiver 4 may be connected to the cable I by means of the leads I: through a suitable switch I! in order that unnecessary noises may not be imposed upon the telephone circuit. The switch 13 may be of any suitable construction and may, along with the rest of the device, be protected from seepage of water in Although I have shown and described but one embodiment of my invention, I am fully aware that many modifications thereof and changes therein are possible. I therefore desire that my invention shall not be limited except insofar as is made necessary by the prior art and by the spirit of the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a hand telephone set, an elongated, flexible rubber support having recessed portions at its ends, a transmitter in one of said recessed portions, a receiver in the other of said recessed portions, said transmitter and said receiver being retained in said recessed portions by watertight connections, a mouth-piece associated with said transmitter, said mouth-piece being formed of rubber which is more flexible than said support, and a sponge rubber ear-piece associated with said receiver.

ARTHUR G. ZIMMERMAN. 

